ISO 26000 standard defines CSR as “responsibility of an organization for the impacts of its decisions and activities on society and the environment through transparent and ethical behavior”.
The main actions concerning the corporate social responsibility are:
- To provide equal opportunities and challenging workplace, in which employees can expand their horizons and develop their professional and personal skills,
- To encourage business partners to act responsibly in terms of society, environment and working conditions,
- To procure goods and services from suppliers who can demonstrate ethical principles in the way they conduct their business,
- To take into consideration the impact onto the environment while undertaking business.
- Although CSR is not a must for most organisations and regulations are not concrete yet, in terms of what and how has to be done and reported, it is a big case for the business world. It is due to the sensible customers who wants to buy products which are not produced in a cruel way.
CSR in business is not a separate thing, it is a wide programme that needs full integration with procurement, sales, production, marketing, and even employment.
To start thinking about CSR strategy one need to bare in mind 3 aspects of a business: Environment, Economics, and Social.
The full picture will only come up if there will be a proper governance and regulations within that, means: CSR Policy, CSR Committee, KPIs and measures integrated into the business strategy, and … internal/external ‘marketing’.
Should you want to take an action and start work on your CSR Policy, you may use some easy to apply examples, as well as get inspired from already existing materials published on various company websites:
Corporate social responsibility company policy: https://resources.workable.com/corporate-social-responsibility-company-policy
GENERIC POLICY - https://www.ecta.com/resources/Documents/Other%20publications/ecta_generic_corporate_and_social_responsibility_policy_issue_1_september_2014.pdf
